Aarons v MacDonell as Executor to the Estate of the late Ronald Ayres [2015] NSWLEC 1058

Land and Environment Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Aarons v MacDonell as Executor to the Estate of the late Ronald Ayres [2015] NSWLEC 1058 Hearing dates: 18 March 2015 Date of orders: 18 March 2015 Decision date: 18 March 2015 Jurisdiction: Class 2 Before: Galwey AC Decision: The application is upheld: see orders at paragraph 25. Catchwords: TREES (DISPUTES BETWEEN NEIGHBOURS); damage to property; orders for tree removal. Legislation Cited: Trees (Disputes Between Neighbours) Act 2006 Cases Cited: Robson v Leischke [2008] NSWLEC 152 Yang v Scerri [2007] NSWLEC 592 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Peter Aarons (Applicant) Wendy MacDonell as Executor to the Estate of the late Ronald Ayres (Respondent) Representation: Peter Aarons, litigant in person (Applicant) Paul Larbalestier, solicitor (Respondent) File Number(s): 20940 of 2014

Judgment

This decision was given as an extemporaneous decision. It has been revised and edited prior to publication.

Background 1. Less than a year ago, Mr Aarons ("the applicant") purchased a residential property in the inner Sydney suburb of Darlinghurst. Two trees stood at that time, as they do now, in the narrow disused right-of-way behind his property. This right-of-way forms part of the property belonging to the Estate of the late Mr Ayres, who died recently. The respondent in this matter is Ms MacDonell, as the executor to the estate of the late Mr Ayres. 2. Mr Aarons says the trees have caused cracking of his rear boundary wall. In October last year he wrote to the respondent asking for the trees to be removed. In November he applied to the Land and Environment Court pursuant to section 7 of the Trees (Disputes Between Neighbours) Act 2006 ("the Trees Act") seeking orders for removal of both trees. 3. The respondent says the trees provide amenity to the local community. She says the estate has no funds to pay for tree removal, but that she does not object to the applicant paying to remove the trees if Council gives permission for their removal.